Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/01/a-satellite-made-out-of-wood.html
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Intriguing concept. I wonder if it could handle the vibration during launch.
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A Satellite Made of Wood? Wasn’t that the setting for the original script for “Alien3”?
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Stepping stone plank to Dyson trees?
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One of the funniest bits from that series.
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Why woodn’t it work?
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The PRC once used a 6" thick heat shield made of white oak.
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The BBC article focused on the problem of the satellites burning up into toxic compounds on reentry and how wood would reduce that impact, and touches on the potential for embedding antennas (not antennae) within the wooden structure. Very clever, if it works.
The Ars Technica article derides the BBC article by saying that a wooden satellite is just as bad as a regular satellite, except for possibly the two areas that the BBC article focuses on. So, they agree but are somehow angry about it.
No pleasing some people.
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The Ars Technica article doesn’t say it wouldn’t work. Rather it points out the (rather obvious IMHO) point that it doesn’t actually address Kessler syndrome. Which, okay, but it’s still potentially less toxic to deorbit and may present other benefits. Basically, the Ars Technica article isn’t wrong per se, but it does itself seem to miss at least part of the point.
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Perhaps they could just spruce up an existing satellite design, or perhaps sic-a-more experienced engineer on the issue. Burning up into Ash would be more beneficial fir all of us. I know I’m going out on a limb here but it may address the root of the problem and crack this chestnut.
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Just noting that blog post was updated to reflect that there is a dispute over whether the story of a wooden heat shield is true or not.
(Also, the post says friction causes heating upon re-entry, when my understanding it is instead ram pressure that causes the air to heat up.)
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Damn, man, you took way more than your chunk of the puns! Leaf some forest of us!
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wood is vulnerable to UV radiation, Stuff left out in the desert disintegrates. No water or termites in space but it’ll need UV proof plastic sealant and maybe foil cover so it doesn’t get too hot. Maybe they mean to use it for internal structure(?).
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Back in the day, I worked on communications satellites. Ours was a similar to a competitor, and because we used low 150 MHz frequencies, we both used big (8’) spirals that opened up when on orbit. We engineered an elaborate spring-loaded mechanism that held our spiral taut. It was our competitor’s first satellite and they basically made a spiral out of copper tape and enclosed it in kapton (that gold-colored all-purpose space tape)… but to make their antenna deploy, they also included bamboo in the design. Basically, it rolled up like an empty tube of toothpaste, and when they cut the wire, it would unfold in to a tube. But we found their wooden antenna hysterical… never mind if the antenna would uncurl after being stuffed in a rocket for 4 months, or if any absorbed florida humidity would mess up the antenna… we teased them relentlessly about space termites.
However, things are rough in the small satellite game. Cheap satellites go on cheap rockets, which are often unproven rockets. Ours blew up, theirs didn’t… but they quickly hired us to design their next seven satellites.
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From the overview given in the Ars Technica article, I wonder if the article wasn’t updated after the fact.
You are correct. And an unusual error from Amy Shira Teitel. Seems she was just glossing over the details. Here is her video response.
